Electrical connector assembly



June 1961 M. D. WAMSLEY 2,987,693

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 5, 1957 United States Patent 2,987,693 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSElVIBLY Meredith D. Wamsley, Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor to International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation,

Filed Sept. 3, 1957, Ser. No. 681,663 2 Claims. (Cl. 339-91) another connector part having female contact elements,

one of the connector parts being attached to the apparatus and the other part being adapted to be selectively engaged therewith.

In the case of complex electrical apparatus, such as radar equipment and computers, it is frequently desirable to provide an electrical connector assembly for a large plurality of electrical leads; electrical leads connected to the removable connector part are conventionally in cabled form. The engagement of such connectors may be difiieult since the removable connector part must be accurately aligned with the other connector part and accurately guided into engagement therewith; the removable connector part with its connected cable may be somewhat awkward and thus it may be found to be difficult accurately to guide the removable connector part into engagement with the other connector part. Furthermore, in connector assemblies having a large plurality of connector elements, considerable force may be needed in order to complete engagement of the removable connector part with the other connector part. Disengagement of Such connectors may be even more difiicult since again considerable force is needed to separate the connector parts and there is a tendency for the person effecting the disconnection to pull on the cable, thus frequently resulting in individual leads being disconnected from their respective contact elements. It is, therefore, dmirable to provide an electrical connector assembly having actuating means for accurately guiding the removable connector part into and out of engagement with the other connector part and for assisting in the engagement and disengagement. It is also desirable that such actuating means be simple, inexpensive and'relativcly foolproof. It is further desirable that such actuating means be applicable to conventional connector assemblies. It is still further desirable that the connector assembly be arranged so that a plurality of removable connectors, which may each have the same contact arrangement, are respectively engageable with their corresponding stationary contact parts.

This invention, in its broader aspects, provides an electrical connector assembly having mounting means with a first connector part secured thereto. A second connector part is provided which is selectively engageable with the first connector part. Guide means are provided with the second connector part having a guide portion cooperating with the guide means thereby to guide the second connector part into and out of engagement with the first connector part. Actuator means are provided operatively connected with the second connector part and arranged selectively to move the same into and out of engagement with the first connector part.

Patented June 6, 1961 It is accordingly an object of this invention to an improved electrical connector assembly.

' this invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the electrical connector as Another object of this invention is to provide an im proved electrical connector assembly incorporating the' desirable features set forth above.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved electrical connector assembly in which the removable connector part is accurately guided into and out of engagement with the other connector part. 7

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an improved electrical connector assembly having actuating means arranged to assist the removable connector part into and out of engagement with the other connector part.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved electrical connector assembly in which a removable connector part having the same contact ar-" rangement as other connector parts is engageable only with its corresponding fixed connector part.

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken 'in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is an exploded view, in perspective, illustrating a preferred form of the improved electrical assembly of sembly of FIG. 1, partly broken away, showing the removable connector part in engagement with the fixed connector, part; and

FIG. 3 is another end view of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1 showing the removable connector part out of engagement with the fixed connector part.

Referring now to the drawings, my improved electrical connector assembly, generally identified as 1, includes a relatively thin mounting panel 2, which may be a part of a component of electrical apparatus. The panel 2 has a eludes a lower housing portion 7 in which female con! nector part 8 is arranged; the female connector part 8 has a plurality of contact elements 9 arranged respectively to engage the contact pins 5 of the stationary con tact part 4. Housing portion 7 is proportioned to enter through opening 3 in panel 2 into the recess 10 so that the contact elements 9 of female connector part 8 will engage the contact pins 5 of the stationary contact part 4. Contact elements 9 are adapted to have a plurality of electrical leads 11 connected thereto.

The lower housing part 7 of the removable connector portion 6 has a flanged portion 12 formed thereon opposite from its open end in which female connector-part 8 is disposed, the flanged portion 12 abutting the surface of panel 2 adjacent opening 3 when the removable connector portion 6 is in engagement with the stationary connector part. An upper housing portion 14 is provided which encloses the connections of the leads 11 to the contact elements 9; upper housing portion 14 has cable clamping means 15 formed thereon for clamping the cable 16 which encloses leads 11. Upper housing portion 14 has a flanged portion 17 which abuts the flanged portion 12 of the lower housing 7 and is secured thereto in a suitable manner. It will again be readily understood that the specific form of the female connector part 8 does provide tive purposes only.

A pair of upstanding guide members 18 and 19 are provided secured to'panel 2 many suitablemanner, as

by screws 14, respectively-on opposite sidesof opening-- 3. Each of the guide members 18 and 19 has anelongated downwardly extending openended slot 20 formed therein and another downwardly extending open-ended slot 21 slightly shorter than and spaced from the slot 20. Another pair of upstanding guide members 22 and 23 are respectively secured to the flanged portion 17 of the removable connector part 6 on opposite sides of the upper housing portion 14, the guide members 22 and 23 being spaced apart a smaller distance than the spacing of the guide members 18 and 19 so that they will be disposed respectively between the guide members 18 and 19 when the removable connector portion 6 is in engagement with the stationary connector portion 4. Each of the guide members 22 and 23 has a guide pin 24 secured thereto,

'guide pins 24 being respectively seated; in the slots 20 of guide members 18 and 19 as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each of the guide members 22 and 23 further has another guide pin 25secured thereto spaced from the guide pin 24. The guide members 22 and 23 preferably have a plurality of threaded openings 26 formed therein with the-guide pins'25 having a threaded engagement with one of the openings 26. Reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 will show that the guide pins 25 are respectivelyseated in the slot 21 ofthe guide members 18 and 19. It will now be seen that the guide pins 25' may be located in anyone of a number of openings 26 to correspond with different locations of slots 21 with respect to slots 20. Thus, in apparatus having a number of connector assemblies 1 and with each of the connectors having the same arrangement of contact elements and 9, the pins 25 and slots 21 of each connector assembly can be differently arrangedthereby to insure that each removable connector portion '6-is correctly engaged with its corresponding stationary connector part.

In order to provide for assisting'the engagementand disengagement of removable connector part 6 from the stationary connector part 4, an actuator member 27 is provided having a pair of levers 28 and 29 joined by a connector portion 30. Levers 28 and 29 are respectively pivotally mounted, as at 31, to the guide members 18 and 19 adjacent thereto and remote from the portion 30. Each of the levers 28 and 29 has a first arcuate cam surface 32 formed thereon adjacent to pivot point 31 and a second arcuate cam surface 33 spaced from the cam surface 32 and defining an arcuate cam slot 34 therewith; the second arcuate cam surface 33 is shorter than the first arcuate cam surface 32.

Reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 will now show that the removable connector portion 6 is initially positioned with its guide pins24 and 25 respectively seated in slots 20 and 21 and with its guide pins 24 respectively abutting the first cam surfaces 32 of levers 28 and 29. The manual actuator member 27 thus has a first position as shown in FIG. 3 with the first cam surfaces 32 of the lever members 28 and ,29 engaging the pins 24 and elevating the same so that the female connector part8 is out of engagement with the male connector part 4. In order to cause engagement of the removable connector portion 6 with the stationary connector portion, the manual actuator member 27 is moved to its second position as shown in FIG. 2; in moving the manual actuator member 27 to its second position, pins 24 enter the cam slots 34 and are cammed downwardly by the second cam surfaces 33 thereby moving the removable connector part 6 downwardly to cause contact elements 9 of female connector part 8 to engage the contact pins 5 of male connector part 4. It is thus seen that in the second position of actuator member 27,'pins 24 are respectively seated in the cam slots 34. In order to bring about disengagement of the removable connector portion 6 from the stationary connector portion, the manual actuator memv connector part engaging tion of manual actuator member 27, pins 24 are now.

respectively out of the cam slots 34 and the removable connector portion 6 can then be lifted thereby to disengage pins 24 and 25 from their respective slots 20 and 21 so that the removable connector portion 6 can be completely separated from the stationary connector part.

It may be found desirable to provide latching means for holdingvthe manual actuator member27 in its second position with the removable and stationary connector portions engaged, therefore, spring clips 35 may berespectively secured to guide members 13v and 19, these spring clips engaging suitable pins 36 respectively onthe sides of levers 28 and 29. V

It will now be seen that I have provided an electrical connector assembly with means for accurately guiding the removable connector portion into and out of engagement with the stationary connector portion and with simple and sturdy actuator means for assisting the engage,

vention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A multiple contact electrical connector assembly comprising: mounting means; a first connector part secured to said mounting means, said first connector part having a plurality of contact elements adapted to have electrical leads connected thereto; a secdnd connector part having a corresponding plurality of contact elements cooperating with the respective contact elements on said first connector part and adapted to have electrical leads connected thereto, said second connector part being selectively engageable with said first connector part thereby engaging said contact elements; a pair of upstanding guide members on said mounting means respectively on opposite sides of said first connector part, each of said guide members having a pair of spaced-apait downwardly extending open-ended slots formed therein with predetermined spacing, opposite sides of said second connector part respectively having a plurality of openings formed therein; a pair of projections selectively secured in the two of said plurality of openings on each side of said second connector part which are in alignment with the respective guide members slots so that said projections are respectively received in said guide member slots thereby to guide said second connectdr part into and out of engagement with said first connector part and to assure that said second connector part is engaged-with only the correct first connector part; and a manual actuating member having a pair of levers joined by a connecting portion, said levers respectivelybeing pivotally mounted on said guide members at their ends remote from said connecting portion, each of said levers having a first arcuate cam surface adjacent its pivotal mounting and a second cam surface spaced from said first cam sure face and defining an arcuate cam slo't therewith, said second cam surface being shorter than said first cam surface, said actuating member having a first'position with two corresponding projections on said second connector part respectively seated in said cam slots and said second 7 said first connector part, said actuating member having a second position with said two projections respectively out of said cam slots and said second connector part disengaged from said first connector part.

2. A multiple co'ntact electrical connector assembly comprising: a mounting panel having a generally rectangular opening formed therein; a generally rectangular male connector part secured to said opening and having a plurality of contact elements adapted to have electrical leads connected thereto; a generally rectangular female connector part having a corresponding plurality of contact elements cooperating with respective contact ele ments on said male connector part and adapted to have electrical leads connected thereto, said female connector part having a portion adapted to pass through said mounting panel opening to engage said male connector part thereby engaging the respective contact elements; a pair of flat upstanding guide members secured to said mounting panel respectively spaced from opposite sides of said opening and parallel therewith, each of said guide members having a pair of spaced-apart downwardly extending open-ended slots formed therein with predetermined spacing; opposite sides of said female connector part respectively having a plurality of openings formed therein; a pair of projections selectively secured in the two of said plurality of openings on each side of said female connector part which are in alignment with the respective guide member slots so that said projections are respectively received in said guide member slots and arranged for longitudinal movement therein, thereby to guide said female connector part into and out of engagement with said male connector part and to assure that said female connector part is engaged with only the correct male connector part; and a manual actuating member having a pair of levers respectively pivotally mounted on said guide members on the sides thereof toward said mounting panel opening, each of said lever members having a first arcuate cam surface and a second arcuate cam surface spaced from said first cam surface and defining an arcuate cam slot therewith, said second cam surface being shorter than said first cam surface, said actuating member having a first position with two corresponding projections on said female connector part respectively seated in said cam slots and said female connector part engaging said male connector part, said actuating member having a second position with said corresponding two female connector part projections respectively out of said cam slots and said female connector part disengaged from said male connector part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,739,421 Savage Dec. 10, 1929 2,749,527 Gast June 5, 1956 2,794,961 Knight June 4, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,233 Great Britain of 1900 770,904 Great Britain Mar. 27, 1957 974,126 France Feb. 19, 1951 999,861 France Feb. 5, 1952 

